End of 2nd MP Procedures

As we near the end of the second marking period, there are steps you will need to take in Canvas and PowerSchool to finalize grades for your courses and, if applicable, to prepare your new courses that will begin at the start of the third marking period. This newsletter addresses both of these goals, so please carefully read the entirety of this newsletter!

ALL teachers should read the information in this section.

It is important to remember that due dates for assignments must be within the confines of a grading period.

• The LAST DUE DATE that can be used for the second marking period or current middle school rotation is Thursday, January 26.
• All final exams/ECAs (if applicable) should have a due date of Friday, January 27.
• The FIRST DUE DATE that can be used for the third marking period or next middle school rotation is Monday, January 30.
  
• You cannot create a due date for any assignment that falls between Saturday, January 28-Sunday, January 29, as this is between marking periods.

In order to see your totals for the correct marking period, you MUST filter your Gradebook by grading period in both Canvas and PowerTeacher Pro. Failure to do this can lead to perceived grading inconsistencies.

Use the links below to filter your Gradebook in Canvas, depending upon your current Gradebook view.

• How to filter your Canvas Gradebook using Classic Gradebook Filter
• How to filter your Canvas Gradebook using Enhanced Gradebook Filter

In PowerTeacher Pro, use the dropdown menu in the upper, right corner to filter to the correct grading period.

Please note: Because the grading day does not officially fall within any particular marking period, you may need to reapply gradebook filters in Canvas on this day.

As you get ready to finalize grades for the second marking period, it is important to check several things to be sure your grades are accurate.

Step 1:

From Canvas, go to your Assignments Index page. For any published assignment, check the following:

• All published assignments have a due date that falls within the second marking period,
• All assignments are in the correct synced Assignment Group, and
• All graded assignments are synced to PowerSchool (look for the green Sync to SIS icon)

Step 2:

From Canvas, click Grade Sync from your Course Navigation Menu. Be sure the most recent sync shows a green checkmark. If you see a red exclamation point in the most recent sync, use the Grade Sync Verification Tool.

Step 3:

Compare your students' overall averages in Canvas and in the PowerTeacher Pro scoresheet. (Be sure you are filtering both Canvas and PowerTeacher Pro to the same grading period when you are comparing these grades.) If you see differences, use the Grade Sync Verification Tool.

Failure to verify this can lead to grade inaccuracies and/or inconsistencies between Canvas and PowerSchool.

Please be sure to reference the information linked below early and often as you prepare to finalize grades in Canvas and PowerSchool for the second marking period and/or the entire first semester. This helps avoid last-minute crisis situations with grades.

These documents include information about handling final exams (when applicable), verifying the sync between Canvas and PowerSchool, and submitting final grades for both the current marking period and (if applicable) the entire course.

Please also note that, while very similar, there are some changes to this process since the first marking period, as we have also continued to learn along the way.

It is important to be aware of student access dates for any courses that are ending on January 27. Students will continue to be able to access these courses for two weeks after the end of the course. In this case, students will have access to these courses up through and including Monday, February 6, at which point the courses will close automatically for students and will disappear from their Canvas Dashboard.

Teachers will retain access to all courses for the 2022-23 school year until June 30, 2023. However, you can choose to "unfavorite" any courses that are ending or that have already ended so they don't continue to clutter your Dashboard.

If you have student(s) who need to complete make-up work for a course that is ending on January 27 after that two-week window, you will need to follow the make-up work protocol detailed in this video.

If you need to extend the participation dates of your course for all of your students in that course (i.e. for a first semester AP course), you can do this via the Course Settings menu. Change the Participation Date dropdown to Course and then enter the updated Course End Date. (Please do not leave the Course End Date blank!) Then, scroll down and click Update Course Details.

If you are beginning a new course on January 30, please read the information below. If you are teaching a year-long course, you can skip this section.

Because of the many changes made to your course this past semester due to our sync with PowerSchool, we STRONGLY recommend that EVERYONE create a NEW master course from your current course. Doing this will save you a tremendous amount of time moving forward because:

• Your Assignment Group names, weights, and organization will be correct for the PowerSchool sync
• Your Assignments will be set to sync to PowerSchool

Click here for directions and tips for making and importing a clean Master Course.

Think of this process like moving houses: you want to declutter and have your yard sale before loading the moving truck. In this case, clean up your course before putting the content in your new, rostered course!

All of your new courses are already rostered to you. If you are not seeing them on your Dashboard, you likely unfavorited them earlier in the year. To have them show on your Dashboard, be sure to favorite them from your Courses menu.

For those of you teaching multiple class periods of the same course this semester, we strongly advise you to cross-list these sections, as this will save you a tremendous amount of time. This step is unnecessary for any singleton courses you have.

There are a few important guidelines to follow when cross-listing your courses to ensure maximum effectiveness:

• Cross-list before you import any existing course content and before any students engage in your course. There's no such thing as cross-listing too early, but there is such a thing as waiting too long to do so!

• Only cross-list courses from the same Term (i.e. semester, rotation, marking period, etc).

• Be sure to cross-list into one of your rostered courses, not a manually-created master course, as this impacts your access to grading periods.

Click here to access directions for cross-listing.

If you are teaching a course first the first time in the second semester, you can skip to Step 5.

The following guides can help you with the steps for importing your clean master copy into your rostered courses:

• Written guide to importing courses
• Self-guided Iorad tutorial on importing courses

It is important to remember these three things when importing:

1. Import AFTER YOU CROSS-LIST your courses.
   
2. Make sure to select the dial button to REMOVE ALL DUE DATES.
3. Be sure to PUBLISH ALL MODULES, but to UNPUBLISH ALL MODULE COMPONENTS that you do not want visible to students on Day 1. (Ideally, this was done when you cleaned up your Master Course!)

You will need to be sure that your PowerSchool Gradebooks and Canvas Assignment Groups are set up and synced correctly. This involves ensuring that your grading categories and weights (if applicable) are correctly set up in PowerSchool AND that they are correctly synced to Canvas. You also need to enable automatic grade syncing in your new Canvas course from the Grade Sync menu.

Click here for directions for syncing Canvas and PowerSchool.

Please note: The only step you will not be able to complete until the first day of the new marking period is syncing your SIS Categories from the Canvas Assignments Index. (This is Step 3 in the Slide deck linked above.) However, you can set everything else up in Canvas and PowerSchool prior to the first day. The syncing of SIS Categories can be done in just a couple of minutes!

If you will be working with any support staff members in one or more of your Canvas courses this coming semester, you will need to manually add them to your Canvas course. (Co-teachers will be automatically rostered.)

To add a support staff member, go to the People menu and click +People. When asked to select a Course Role, you should select SUPPORT STAFF. If you have a cross-listed section, be sure to add this support staff member to each section.

Click here to see more detail about this process.

While this is the easiest step, as it just involves clicking the PUBLISH button on the course tile(s) on your Dashboard, it is a very important step to take. Otherwise, your students will not be able to see your courses. Click here for directions on publishing your courses.

This must be completed by the end of the day on Friday, January 27, as third making period/second semester courses will be automatically available on student Dashboards on that day.

If you need your students to have access to your third marking period course before Friday, January 27 for any reason, you can do this via the course Settings menu. Change the Participation Date dropdown to Course and then enter the updated Course Start Date. If you choose to do this, please be sure to set the Course End Date to a date on or before June 30, 2023. Then, scroll down and click Update Course Details to save your changes.

While the Pennsbury Technology Team is always more than happy to answer your Canvas questions, we will continue to have access to LIVE 24/7/365 Canvas support for the 2022-23 school year. This is available in the form of live virtual chat or hotline that will connect you with a real, live support person.

To access this live support, use the HELP button on your orange Global Navigation bar on the left side of your Canvas window.

You also always have access to the full suite of Canvas help guides from the HELP button.